Internet 2, Sept 18 2005 Building NRENs in Africa Progress and Challenges in Building National Research and Education Networks in Africa : a view from

Internet 2,Sept 18 2005

Building NRENs in Africa

Progress and Challenges in Building National Research and Education Networks in Africa :

a view from the field

National Research and Education Networks:

getting started in Malawi

Margaret E Ngwira – [email protected] &

Anthony Muyepa – [email protected]



NREN : Getting Started in Malawi

• Republic in Southern Africa• Area 45747 sq miles• 10.5 million population• Agriculture-based economy• Low and falling life expectancy of

around 37 years• University of Malawi is 40 years

old and has sound academic standards but many resource constraints

A brief introduction to Malawi




• The Millennium Development Goals cover eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, improving health, combating HIV/AIDS , ensuring environmental sustainability, developing a global partnership for development

• All can be addressed in various measures if connectivity is faster and cheaper!

• http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/



• Internet access is Malawi has until now been slow and expensive

• Bandwidth comes though leased lines and VSATs• The Regulatory Framework is supportive of Academic

and Research Networking


Connectivity Issues in Malawi




Malawi Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Policy (draft 2003)

Some Policy Objectives (section 3)• Improve ICT infrastructure• Build ICT R&D capacity in Malawi’s universities…and

…research institutions• Facilitate the development and utilisation of ICTs to

support the activities of the health Sector




The MALICO VSATs

• One response to the slow connectivity in the academic sector was to investigate the possible contribution of VSATs

• In February 2005, through the efforts of the Malawi Library and Information Consortium, MALICO, with funding support from OSI, OSISA and World Bank, 4 3.7 metre VSATs were installed at academic sites from north to south of Malawi

• Since then they have been providing excellent access to a rich variety of available e-resources



M A L I C O VSAT SITES

Mzuzu University

University of Malawi:

Bunda College of Agriculture

Chancellor College

College of Medicine

Image by CSIR





RFP – Satellite Linkage

VSAT Launch, 8 May 2005




Where does Fibre fit into Malawi Academic Networking?

• For Malawi, realisation that VSATs are just a step in a journey towards fast low cost academic bandwidth

• The bandwidth the VSATs provide, while infinitely better than what was before, is expensive: approximately US$3500 per Mb

• So in June 2005, Malawi joined the SARUA Fibre initiative

• This is in order to explore possible available (including dark) fibre and how it might benefit the academic sector




The Bigger Picture : AAU , SARUA and the

quest for Fibre

• AAU General Assembly in Capetown, South Africa, Feb 2005 : ICT Task Force

• SARUA born at AAU GA : Southern African Regional Universities Association

• SARUA Fibre Initiative an output• Working with SIDA Sweden, IDRC and World Bank

to identify available fibre and find ways of using it for academic networking




What steps have been undertaken so far in the Malawi Fibre quest?

• Establishment of a National Research and Education Network Task Force representing the two major public Universities, with top level leadership August 2005. It is chaired by Professor L Kamwanja, the Pro Vice Chancellor of the University of Malawi and has a broad membership

• We are collecting all the documentation necessary to prepare a project proposal to move the process on.




Where is the fibre?• We started a process of consultation : to identify any Fibre,

existing or planned• This is a new area for Malawi and information is not readily

available• We were able to get the fibre plans for ESCOM, the

Electricity supply company for Malawi• There are immediate plans for Fibre from Blantyre to

Lilongwe and Salima . The continuation to Mzuzu is dependent on the metal power transmission poles

• This means it is dependent on a major World Bank Infrastructure project, the Southern Africa Power Project. We are in touch with World Bank trying to get further details.

• We have checked with the Railway company but they have no fibre.




What else have we done?

• Members of the NREN Task Force are also involved in helping get 2 National Internet Exchanges established to ensure local traffic goes locally

• We have met with our Communications and Regulatory Authority and gained their support for the NREN concept

• We have also got the blessing of the Ministry of Information




A planned modular approach

• Given the enormity of the project, it is proposed to start with local academic gigabit fibre networks in Blantyre, Zomba, Lilongwe and Mzuzu

• The drawings have been done for Blantyre, connecting all the higher education and health institutions to a fibre backbone and then connecting it to the Electricity Company Fibre or the Telecomms Company




Any other challenges?

• With all the constraints of international procurement and delays in obtaining Foreign Exchange in a hunger year, and the devaluating currency, and freight charges costs and possible duty, costs to set up the network are proving higher than expected

• Human capacity in this area is very limited nationally• Mzuzu University and Chancellor College and Bunda

College of Agriculture are off the path for fibre for some years yet are major academic sites.




The Way Forward

• The availability of fibre for a regional academic backbone infrastructure is being investigated, including the East African Submarine Cable System (EASSy) and alternative fibre from power utilities, railway companies, etc.

• It is proposed that an African Bandwidth Consortium is registered, with members from each of the user countries, and that a regional model inspired by DANTE, Delivery of Advanced Network Technologies for Europe, is used for operating the backbone.

• This could be called DANTA



• The theme of the day is Progress and Challenges in Building National Research and Education Networks in Africa : a view from the FieldAt the moment the “Field” seems more like a steep mountain

• But “Where there is no vision, the people perish!” • We have the vision. • The Millenium Development Goals also shape our

vision.• We hope that partners will assist us in its

implementation, and then we will also work with our neighbouring countries in our global village!


CONCLUSION




Thank you!

Documents

Internet 2, Sept 18 2005 Building NRENs in Africa Progress and Challenges in Building National Research and Education Networks in Africa : a view from